


Animal Instincts

by BloodWolf13



Series: Animal Magic [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Sunshine, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Chat Noir Adrien Agreste and Ladybug Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Gen, Light Angst, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, The Kids Are Trying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:08:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27921271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodWolf13/pseuds/BloodWolf13
Summary: Putting on a Miraculous is a wonderful thing. It allows the user to become stronger, faster, better. Superpowers are always amazing, but very rarely does it come without a catch. Adrien and Marinette suddenly learn that when odd feelings start manifesting out of nowhere.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Plagg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki
Series: Animal Magic [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058588
Comments: 21
Kudos: 95





	1. Adrien was having a nice day...

Adrien has always been a sharing boy, ever since he was a child. This could be due to his easy going personality, pacifist qualities or having Chloe Bourgeois as a childhood friend. Since he remembers always sharing what he had with his friends, it was bizarre that on a Tuesday afternoon he almost snapped at Nino for touching his things.

Adrien was baffled by what he felt in that moment, anger, annoyance, things he rarely or never felt, but when Nino grabbed - his manga of all things - Adrien was furious and it made no sense to him. It was such a stupid thing, something he never thought he would even have problems with…but for some reason he had.

Nino didn’t notice, neither did his friends, but Adrien frowned at himself. What was that?

The day had started great. It was a rare day when his father had allowed Adrien to have a few friends over for a short period of time after fencing class. It was a reward for passing a Chinese exam and moving on to the final level to master the language.

Adrien didn’t need to be told twice, he had invited Marinette, Nino, Alya, Kagami, and Chloe. He was sure five people would be the max his father would allow over bringing more might anger his father.

Sadly, Adrien’s father had informed him of this reward on the day he had to invite the people. Kagami told him she already had classes scheduled and couldn’t attend, but they would celebrate by having a duel in fencing class. Chloe had some type of beauty-spa thing schedule. Then she informed him that they would celebrate when the _others_ weren’t there. Nino and Alya agreed to go after asking their parents. Marinette didn’t immediately say yes, but Alya assured him she would also come.

He had asked a few of his classmates to come, but with only a few hours of warning in advance, most couldn’t come. Some had things planned, others couldn’t have their parents bring them there. By the end of the day almost everyone he had asked had rejected his invite.

Lila had tried to invite herself last minute, but Marinette in a moment of pure genius reminded the girl of a “charity event” Lila had been boasting about over the last few weeks. Adrien had almost hugged Marinette on the spot. With Alya and Nino coming over the chances of Lila calling his dad to come by was small. It would take a big “excuse” to explain her sudden appearance.

Despite having fewer friends to hang out with than originally planned it was all going fine. Gorilla drove them back to his house. After doing their homework in the dining room with Nathalie looking over, they were allowed to go to his room. They were having fun. Adrien was over the moon with the small reward his father had given him.

Nino had gone over his collection of manga and anime and started to grab something he wanted. Nino had asked and everything, Adrien didn’t even think he knew what Nino grabbed, but he knew what he felt wasn’t normal. An animalistic instinct of almost wanting to growl “ ** _mine_** ” had nearly come out. It was baffling.

“Dude? Adrien?” Nino was waving a hand in front of his face. “Where did you go?”

Adrien rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry, got distracted. Did you choose what you’ll take?”

Nino shows him what he wanted. “I’ll get it back to you after reading it. Okay dude?”

Odd the possessive feeling he felt didn’t resurface. “Sure. I’ll bring you the next volumes in class.”

“Awesome.”

Alya calls out to them. “Adrien, can we play Basketball? Me and Nino versus you and Marinette?”

Marinette squeals next to Alya, but vigorously nods her head. He smiles at Marinette and her face softens into a smile. He goes over to Marinette, while Alya and Nino go check out the court and talk strategy.

Marinette looks nervous. “Well…I-I gu-guess we plan…no… I mean we need to come up with a plan?”

Adrien smiles at her. Her way of talking to him is sometimes quirky, but there is something in him that just likes it. “We’re going to win this…after all we make a great team.”

Marinette smiles, loses a bit of his shine, and Adrien frowns. “Win…yeah…I’m not that great with basketball…” She drops her head in defeat.

Adrien’s chest feels heavy for a second. “Hey. I’m sorry I didn’t mean we _have_ to win. I just want us to have fun…if you don’t want to play Alya and Nino will probably choose something else. My room has a lot of stuff we can find…”

“No! Sorry…I like sports. It’s just my clumsy sometimes gets in the way…just want to warn you I can hit you with a ball in your pretty face.” She finishes the sentence and goes deep red.

Adrien laughs. “It would be fine. I do have good reflexes and I can probably save my…pretty face.” He teases her while still chuckling.

Marinette chuckles with him. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Adrien opens his mouth to reply but Alya clears her throat. “You guys ready to lose?”

“In your dreams.” Both him and Marinette reply. They look at each other in confusion, but Adrien shrugs it off. It isn’t weird for friends to think or say the exact same thing at times. It just shows how in sync they are with each other. As the game begins this becomes more and more apparent.

Adrien thinks Marinette was joking when she said she was bad at basketball, because they destroyed Alya and Nino. It took some time, but they both got in sync, every pass they did was perfect, position perfect, one of them missed a lance the other was down there to grab the ball and score. They were up by 30 points, before Alya and Nino just gave up.

“Where did you learn to play like that?” Alya asks out of breath.

Marinette looks perplexed by her performance, but Adrien shrugs. “I’ve had classes since I was eight. It’s more of a hobby now, since I prefer fencing, but I still play often.” He scratches the back of his neck and looks at Marinette.

She still looks puzzled by the events. “I have no idea.”

Nino groans. “How are you two still standing? We’ve been running around for an hour without breaks and you two are barely sweating.”

It was true. Both Alya and Nino were on the floor drenched in sweat, drinking a bottle of water and still a little out of breath, while him and Marinette were mostly fine.

“I’m used to doing a lot of sports. I guess I have more…stamina?” He turns to Marinette. “What about you?”

Marinette still looking a little dumbfounded shrugs. “I guess always being late and having to run everywhere helps? Plus, I do help around the bakery…and it’s not an easy job. I’m more in shape than I realized.”

“More in shape? Girl you have abs.”

“Alya!”

“It’s true. You have more abs than Alix and she spends her day rollerblading everywhere. You might work at the bakery, but you also eat there. I’ve seen you eating enough sweets in one sitting to give anyone indigestion. Specially, chocolate cookies, boxes of that disappear around you.”

Marinette turns red and briefly glares at her purse. “I like cookies.”

Alya snorts. “Obviously.”

Note to self get Marinette lots of cookies for her next birthday. Adrien laughs softly at Marinette’s attempts to excuse her cake habits, while Alya keeps teasing her.

He chuckles. “If I lived in a bakery I would probably clear the counter every day.”

“Same dude.”

“Same, but Marinette's ability to eat that much sugar and still have abs is a miracle.” Alya gets up. “I mean I gain a few kilos every time she brings macaroons to school…”

Nino groans as he gets up. “Oh man, imagine what we would look like if we ate that much every day. I think I would develop diabetes.”

Adrien smiles. “Yet, they are so good.”

“Dude like you can talk.” Nino slaps a hand on his back and laughs. “Adrien eats croissants by the dozen when you bring them. The boy has a bottomless stomach like you Marinette. Never full enough and still looks like a model…literally.”

They all laugh. Adrien also laughs with his friends, but he remembers when he started to be Chat Noir, he quickly lost a ton of weight. His father had brought up a nutritionist who informed Gabriel that his son needed to eat more calories. He had a meticulous diet because of modeling, his father preferred him on the thin side, but he didn’t want Adrien to be too thin.

His diet plan was drastically altered and Adrien blamed it on joining fencing class in school. He told his father Mr. D’Argencourt pushed him a lot more than the previous tutor. Father was satisfied with the answer, and pleased Adrien was more invested in his classes. So he started a new diet plan and started to eat a lot more calories.

It wasn’t always enough, occasionally he had a horrible week with akumas and extra work, and he would visit Dupain-Cheng bakery and order a few croissants to put on the calories. In the beginning Marinette’s parents allowed him to pay, but when he let it slip he had a special diet plan, the Dupain-Chengs started to put other baked goods in the bag for free.

He had told Marinette her parents didn’t need to do that. He had more than enough money to pay, Marinette stuttered for a few sentences, and Adrien assumed that was an ‘I’ll talk with them’. He was wrong. Next day Marinette showed up with a huge box filled with a ton of baked goods, a big portion was shared with the class, but he got the most out of them.

A note inside informed him of Marinette’s newfound knowledge about his diet, and how he could keep his baked goods inside his locker room and every day bring some home on his backpack, before they went stale. Adrien had no idea how Marinette figured out the perfect amount of baked goods to put in his bag without it bulging out, but she did.

Plagg was also very happy because a lot of those baked goods had filling in it, and the cheese ones were delicious. Or so Adrien had been told, since Plagg cleared those ones for him in a single day.

Marinette smiles sheepish at them. “By the way I did bring macaroons…they are in my backpack.” The rest of the afternoon was spent joking around and playing a few games. The nasty feeling he had never returned and he felt over the moon hanging out with his friends. Adrien wished he could do this more often, hangout with his friends, and just relax, not to have to worry about the million extra classes and events he had to do.

It felt almost as freeing as being Chat Noir.

…

After his friends left, he had dinner alone in his room. He was still feeling full from the macaroons, but he cleared the plate.

Plagg was eating a piece of Camembert while lying on the couch next to him. Plagg had eaten a few macarons filled with cream cheese and was already in a great mood. It had been a good day.

A maid knocks on his door to collect his plate, he lets her in. When she grabs his dishes to put them away it happens again.

An ugly feeling in his chest appears when she touches his plate. He shallows down his urge to growl at her for daring to touch his things, and looks away until she leaves his room.

When the door closes Adrien feels his entire body trembling. What happened? Why did he feel this anger again, this possessiveness again?

“Adrien?” Plagg floats in front of his face looking sad, but not surprised. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t think so…Plagg I had this feeling just now…and early with Nino…I can’t explain it…”

“Anger? Rage? Possessiveness?”

“Yes…How did you know? Do you know what’s wrong?” A part of Adrien is relieved that Plagg seems to know what is happening, but a feeling of dread is settling in his chest when he looks at Plagg.

Plagg sighs. “You feel possessive over food and objects that bring you comfort…and your body feels like it wants to attack the person threatening to take the stuff away. It’s an animal response.”

“An animal response?”

“Miraculous users…when they keep their miraculous on for long periods of time without pauses…like you wearing the ring nonstop for two years…the user might gain animal characteristics…”

Adrien’s head is left spinning. “I’m turning into a cat?”

Plagg snorts. “No…not that. It’s more you being defensive over your food source, propriety and other things. I recognized the signs just now…I had been wandering when you would gain them.”

“Can I stop it? I mean I don’t want to snap at people for no reason…”

Plagg picks up more cheese. “Short answer, yes.”

“Long answer?”

“It takes a little time to get used to the feelings, but after a while you can just ignore them…I had other Chat Noirs that they learn to dismiss them as easy as breathing. “

“Not all Chat Noirs?”

Plagg shrugs. “Most. I wasn’t always with them for long periods of time after they started. The ones I was…either lost themselves to those feelings or controlled them…”

“LOST THEMSELVES?” Adrien panics. What if he can’t control them? What if they get worse and worse? He can’t snap at people for no good reason, that’s not who he is. That’s not who he wants to be.

Plagg looks at the door in fear. “They had previous problems…they weren’t always the best people…” He trails off for a moment.

Adrien feels like crap. He was aware to a degree that not all of the previous black cat users were good to Plagg. A part of Adrien’s heart broke on the night of Nooroo’s birthday when he realized just how bad Plagg’s past could have been. The hesitation Plagg had of asking something so simple, the fear in his eyes when he told Adrien in detail what he and the other kwamis were doing. He had suspicions before, but he never wanted to ask Plagg the details. He knew better than to press so he had left the door open for Plagg. If he ever wanted to talk Adrien would listen.

Another part of him - the part he tried to ignore - understood Plagg’s hesitation. It was the same one he felt whenever he had to ask something from his Father. He knew the answer would be no, and a cruel reason would follow. He knew the pain of fearing asking a question, because the answer would never be good.

He held his hands out slowly to grab Plagg and held his friend in his hands. “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to freak out…it’s just…” he opens and closes his mouth without knowing what to say.

Thankfully Plagg knew what to do. “I know, kid. Look I doubt you have to worry about losing control for several reasons. Most important is you had this feeling twice and never lashed out…it shows great control already. You’re a good kid Adrien. Most of the others were already having problems long before this occurred. I have no doubt you’ll gain control. It will take time but you can do it.”

“A long time?”

“A few weeks/months at most…a few Chat Noirs took a few years, but those were rare and were usually external causes like fighting wars.”

It’s one of those times Adrien’s head swims at the mentions of previous Chat Noirs. The thought of fighting wars feels odd, even when he and Ladybug are fighting Hawk Moth. “Plagg what about Ladybug?”

“Tikki’s kids get the same, all kwami users do. The temporary heroes won’t. They don’t keep the miraculous on them for years at a time.” A part of Adrien is relieved Chloe won’t suddenly develop even more behavior problems. “Ladybug should develop the same thing, but it might not have started yet.”

“Should I tell her?”

“Nah…let Tikki deal with it. You might cause her stress if she doesn’t know…I’ll ask Tikki. I’ll go searching for her tonight. If she has I’ll tell you in the morning, if she hasn’t…I’ll ask Tikki to tell Ladybug you know when it happens.”

“Doesn’t she deserve to know…I mean…”

“She will, but there is a reason we don’t just tell you immediately, most users freak out and start to go paranoid trying to figure out if those feelings are real or a side effect of the miraculous…”

“How do I know for sure?”

Plagg snorts. “Adrien did those feelings seem normal? Not in the way they feel like something you normally feel. Were they something that felt natural?”

Adrien thought back to them. “No…they felt intense, but at the same time they caused a lot of confusion….the fear I had of them felt more real than the actual feelings.”

“Exactly. It’s easy to figure it out what they are after you feel them…I had users telling me it felt fake. The feelings were imposed on them rather than something they usually felt. It’s why we don’t tell you before we see the signs, don’t want to leave you a paranoid mess. Plus, there are some things that happen to certain users that don’t happen to others. It’s better to wait.”

Adrien frowns. “You never tell anyone this might happen?”

“Will happen.” Plagg sighs. “Back when the order was around, they had a rule… if the miraculous user had it for more than a few months they would be informed that side effects would appear…they wouldn’t specify them, but they would inform them. Master Fu didn't get taught that…Wayzz eventually explained what happened to him, but I don’t think Wayzz knew what the guardians told the users.”

“Do you?”

“No. The ones that were informed by the order were told around the same time the miraculous transformations” Plagg makes a face. “Were explained, and since the ingredients are secrets, we were never in the room. The ones the order didn’t inform or couldn’t be informed…we preferred the symptoms to show up before telling. It was easier to explain.”

Adrien tries to process what Plagg is saying and his head is left spinning. He assumes this is a side effect from using magic for…for what? For using it too long? Do the miraculous have an expiring date? That doesn’t make sense. Master Fu has used a Miraculous for more than a century and it never hurt him. Even Hawk Moth who is using one with horrible intentions doesn’t seem to have any difficulty using it.

Adrien thinks that means there is no expiration date, but it doesn’t explain why they show up. Also why are they animal instincts? Is it because the kwamis look like animals? The way he understands it Plagg and the others are Gods who were brought by some monk into earth centuries ago, before that they still existed but they weren’t in the same physical realm that Adrien was. Furthermore Loong the dragon kwami wasn’t an animal. He was a mythical creature. Wait…Does that mean freaking dragons exist or have existed?

He shakes his head to get rid of that particular line of thought. He could ask Plagg, but the kwami would probably make a joke and a reference to something Adrien doesn’t understand or would rather not understand.

Back to the problem at hand. Were these feelings the only side effect or were there more? Why did it affect him first? Could he overcome them? Was Plagg telling the truth when he told him not being controlled by them was a great sign? Would they get worse? What were the other things he might gain from wearing a Miraculous? Adrien rubs his head feeling a headache coming over him. Too many questions and he wasn’t sure he wanted all the answers. At least right now.

Asking questions when you know the answer will hurt is too much of an old pain. Still some things he had to know.

“Plagg what exactly are all of the side effects I might get?”

Plagg floats and sits on his shoulder. “Well, you already know about the possessive thing. They can extend to people… but it’s rare. You could feel a deep need to protect someone you love if you think they are in danger…”

“I already do that…”

“It’s why I don’t think you will feel them, since you already have them. Ladybug also has them. It usually only appears on people with bad protective instincts.”

One less thing to worry about. “Any other…err…things I need to know?”

“A few of my kids become more homely…like they preferred to stay in their room.”

“I can’t imagine it…” Adrien thought back to all the times he stayed inside his room, waiting for another tutor to come, only leaving when he had to do modeling. Trapped in a modern day castle, waiting for freedom that would only come with a Miraculous. It would be the cruelest of ironies if he would start to isolate himself because of the object that gave him freedom in the first place. He wants to ask Plagg if it could happen to him. If something he wanted for so long could disappear but he’s terrified of the answer.

Adrien didn’t have to ask the question because Plagg seemed to read his mind. “I doubt you will have this side effect…the users that develop this have outside problems, one of the reasons they seek comfort in their dens is because the outside is...a problem. You see the outside of your house as a blessing, making you not likely to suddenly become a house cat.”

“Nice pun.” Adrien’s eyes shine.

Plagg smirks. “Anyway those are the more…emotional side effects. The miraculous will eventually affect you physically. You gain more strength, speed, stamina, etc. Your senses will also improve.”

Does he already have them and hasn’t realized? He thinks back to the fencing matches he has with Kagami. How they used to be a lot more difficult. He had assumed he was just getting better, but what if that wasn’t the case? What if he was just having side effects? Adrien recalls back to the basketball match that might be why he wasn’t tired, but it wouldn’t explain Marinette. It feels more like he’s in great shape rather than super human. “What do you think of me right now? I mean you’ve seen this happen to other Chats…where do you think I’m at?”

“Right now…I would put you on par with an Olympic athlete. You haven’t passed the super human barrier…in a few weeks you might.”

“What am I going to do? Fencing, martial arts, basketball…I think my teacher will notice if I suddenly become superman…”

Plagg snorts. “Way too much imagination kid. Tell me when you do martial arts…do you hit as hard as you can?”

“No.”

“You adjust your strength and speed when fencing?” Adrien nods. “Just do the same. Finding a balance is easy.”

Adrien doesn’t think it will be that easy. He has to make sure when the physical alterations show up, he has enough time to make sure things won’t spiral. Probably fake an injury…a twisted ankle isn’t too hard to fake. An injury happens sometimes with the amount of sports he does, and Nathalie gives him two or three days without any physical activity.

Anymore and he has to see a doctor. He will only have a couple days to figure it out, which doesn’t seem like enough time. Adrien’s headache increases when he realizes the physical changes might not appear all at once. What if it comes gradually? His plan would be useless.

Plus, if what Plagg told him is true he will be able to figure out quickly a way to deal with his new found strength, but it’s only in sports. Plagg said nothing about the day to day. How strong can he get? How fast? What are the limits? How will he test them? He looks at Plagg who is still hovering near him. He hesitates to ask any of the thousands of questions running through his mind.

“Any more questions?” Plagg looks at him with knowing eyes. His Kwami isn’t the most straight forward at times, but he is unusually perceptive. He must see Adrien’s internal struggle. It’s not lost on him that Plagg has been extremely informative during this conversation versus what he normally does - eat cheese and tell Adrien to use shortcuts.

“Does the…super strength and stuff come all at once or gradually?”

“Gradually.” Damn it. There goes the plan, but it might make it easier to control. Plagg looks patiently at him.

Adrien appreciates Plagg’s explanations, but right now he needs to process this. “I think I’m going to relax…can I ask more questions later?”

Plagg smiles. “Sure, but now I have a date with a creamy tasty treat.”

Adrien puts on the TV as a distraction in the background and tries to deal with the massive bombs that have been dropped on him. His thoughts keep running around in his head for the rest of the night. The TV served as background noise while he tried to find a solution, or at least a plan.

He wishes he could ask Ladybug how she would deal with this, but he can’t. It would be unfair to put this weight on her. He has to wait for her and it feels weird. Hopefully they can talk about this soon.

He decides to go to sleep and Plagg leaves to meet Tikki.

It might be the lack of Plagg’s snores, or the insanity he has learned tonight, but whatever it is Adrien doesn’t sleep well that night.


	2. Marinette’s turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is up.

Marinette was not an angry girl. She had always been a patient and kind girl as far as she could remember. She felt anger on occasion, but it was more a frustration or irritation than true anger. Marinette rarely had reasons to feel anger, true anger, much less a blinding rage so strong she had almost growled at Alya for calling her clumsy.

It was confusing and terrifying to Marinette. Never in their entire friendship had she took offense at Alya calling her clumsy, it had become a sort of inside joke, similar to Marinette teasing Alya for having too many blogs. It wasn’t said with ill intent it was more a laugh-at-your-weird sort of thing. Thus it was bizarre for Marinette to want to growl at her best friend.

It was a normal day.

She had arrived on school on time and went to walk up the stairs. Adrien and Nino had been discussing something on the stairs, and Adrien had release a laugh, Marinette’s heart skipped a beat and her foot missed the stairs. Alya had grabbed her elbow and kept Marinette from hitting the ground face first.

“Damn girl, the day has barely started and your clumsy is already striking.” Alya had chuckled.

Normally, Marinette would have laugh with Alya and added a quip of her own. Today, Marinette had to stop herself from growling. The feeling disappeared almost as soon as it had appeared and left Marinette feeling puzzled. What had just happen?

“Girl…Marinette are you okay?” she focuses back on Alya who was looking really worried. Marinette still was on the ground on one knee. Adrien and Nino had walked down to the bottom of the stairs and had twin worried looks.

“Yeah…I’m just…” Marinette trails off shaking her head. That feeling, whatever it was left her confused. How does she explain a bizarre emotion that hits so strong but disappears the next second? It didn’t even feel real…maybe she imagine it.

“…nette?” Adrien voice calls out to her. Marinette focuses back on her friends who are now looking extremely worried. “I think you should go lay down in the nurse’s office.”

That makes her snap out. “What? No. I’m fine, just a little dizzy.”

“No. I think Adrien might be right. You look pale. It might just be a dizzy spell, but you should get it checked out.”

“I’m okay besides we should get to class or Miss Bustier might…” Marinette gets cut off.

“No, dudette. I’ll tell Miss Bustier that you’re in the nurse’s office. Alya and Adrien can take you there. You’re still pale, shaking and you’re swaying a little.”

Marinette looks down to her body and it’s true. She didn’t even notice, those bizarre emotions might have made her go into shock. Is this an akuma? It doesn’t seem to be affecting anyone else…she looks into her purse when it moves slightly. Is that Tikki? Maybe she knows what’s going on? She needs to talk with her, which means she needs privacy.

Marinette sighs. “Okay. I’ll go.”

Her friends nod and relax a little. Adrien extends his arm for her balance, and she almost swoons. Alya noticing this grabs her waist and winks at Adrien.

“I’ll take this side.” She squeezes Marinette’s waist and together they drag her into the nurse’s office. Her anxiety is the only thing that prevents her from blushing like crazy.

When they get there the nurse takes one look at her and grabs a chair for Marinette to sit. Marinette has been in here so much for tripping or slamming into something the nurse already knows the drill.

“What’s wrong?” She asks while pulling out a tablet to report the incident.

Alya answers for her. “She trip when we were entering the school. We thought it was just her being clumsy, but then she started to shake pretty badly. When we asked what was wrong it took Marinette some time to answer like she wasn’t hearing us.”

“I’m fine.”

The nurse gave her a hard look. “You don’t look fine. Come on let’s see what’s wrong.”

She started to ask some basic questions.

“Did you eat this morning?”

She had, but it could explain what had happen and she needs to talk with Tikki. So she told a half truth. “I drank a cup of coffee.” Leaving out the breakfast she had also eaten.

The nurse gives her an unimpressed look. “That would do it. It’s probably low blood pressure. Lie down on the bed. I’ll go get you something from the cafeteria.” She turns to Adrien and Alya telling them to go back to class and goes to get Marinette some food.

“Tikki?” The kwami flies out of the bag. “I…I felt something strange…I felt this rage come over me, but it wasn’t like it was me.” She felt stupid saying it out loud, but Tikki just gave a knowing look. “Do you know what’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong. When a miraculous user goes years wearing the miraculous without taking it off for long periods of time, side affects show up. The sudden anger is one of those, we call it animal instincts.”

“Animal instincts?”

“We call it that due to the emotional part of the side effects it’s similar to how animal react when threaten or hurt. For example extreme anger when attacked or insulted, Alya insulted you, this caused a reaction…”

“It was just a joke, something we’ve done a million times.” She replied feeling worn out. This day has just gotten a lot longer.

“These are not normal emotions. Did they feel real?”

“No. They felt fake and disappeared almost instantly.”

Tikki nods satisfied. “I’m not surprise. Most of my users can get them under control fast.”

“Get what under control? Wait…are the feelings permanent?”

“Yes and no. The emotions you felt stay with the user, but you won’t be control or blindsided by them. You already said it yourself they felt fake and you ignore them.”

Marinette frowns. “I almost growl at Alya. I don’t think that’s control.”

“First time feeling them, it will get better. Chat Noir started feeling those a few weeks ago and Plagg told me he had it mostly under control.”

Marinette does a double take. “Chat has been dealing with this for weeks? Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Plagg asked him not to. It’s easier to explain what this is when you feel it. Telling you before it started would only cause stress. It’s the same reason Master Fu didn’t tell you.”

Marinette feels like her brain just broke a little. It’s all a little bit too much, but she needs to know more. “Okay. Is Chat alright?”

“Yes, at least last time I talked with Plagg. Chat has been dealing well with it, you can ask him next time you see him on patrol.”

“Why did it show up later in me?”

Tikki shrugs. “It happens at different times for everybody. It’s another reason we don’t tell the users, sometimes we don’t stay with a wearer enough time for this to manifest.”

Marinette nods. She will need to have a long talk with Chat Noir next time she saw him outside of an akuma attack. Tikki is telling her he’s fine, but Marinette needs to see it for herself. “Okay…what other side effects are there?”

“On the emotional side, you have possessive over personal objects or people close to you. For example, if people touch your stuff or are mean to someone you love, you might get angry. A need for you to stay inside your room or house. Not all users feel all of this. It’s likely you won’t have them all.”

Marinette nods. In her mind she already is thinking of ways to combat unexpected feelings. The feeling almost instantly disappeared and she was able to control them. She honestly thought for a second it was an akuma, immediately looking for a logic solution. If she can create a technique for when these feeling show up, maybe control will be easier.

All the things Tikki is saying are a little terrifying, but Marinette thinks with a few meditation techniques from her mother she can get them under control.

“Does meditation help?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“You said emotional side effects. What are the others?”

“You’ll gain super strength, speed, endurance, stamina outside of the suit. You’ll become superhuman.”

“ _What_?” Marinette feels a little dizzy. Her mind flashes back to all the times in the last few weeks she had to run somewhere and how easy it felt. The flour bags at the bakery have been easier to lift, games played with friends where they end up sweating and exhausted and she is mostly fine. Has it already started? How did she not notice? Why didn’t Tikki said anything? “Is that before or after the emotional side effects?”

“They happen around the same time. Your body has been getting close to the superhuman barrier in the last few weeks but you haven’t passed it yet. If you did I would have told you.”

Marinette nods her head and takes a deep breath. The shock she felt earlier has disappeared, but her anxiety has worsened. Marinette always knew that using a miraculous would come with sacrifices.

From the beginning, when Tikki started talking about the powers of the miraculous, the hairs in the back of her neck stood up and she had to fight the flight reaction her body was screaming at her. At the time Marinette was too freaked out to think about what that might mean. She had assumed it was the overwhelming information she had receive. Magic was real, a friend had turn into a monster, and she had been chosen to fight him.

Now she can’t help but wonder if her instinct weren’t trying to tell her something. The way Tikki was putting this “side effects” didn’t seem bad. Yet something felt wrong.

“Why do they show up?” Marinette needs to know.

“It’s a mix from the magic giving us animal appearances and humans most basic instincts for survival.”

“Does that mean you have another form?” Marinette tries to imagine Tikki looking different and fails.

“Marinette we are Gods. We don’t need a physical form to exist, but humans need to see us. We chose random animals in the beginning. I look like a Ladybug, Plagg looks like a cat, and so on. These are our physical forms to communicate with humans.”

That makes a lot of sense…Marinette has been with Tikki for so long she often forgets what Tikki is. “Okay…what are the basic instincts you keep talking about?”

“Humans and animals have basic needs and instincts. With humans you have the need to protect what are theirs and the people they care about, the need to have a place to sleep, to have enough food. Most of these side effects appear after a couple years.”

“Are there any side effects that take time?”

“No, but I had a few users that when they have kids, the overprotective emotions reappear stronger. You don’t have to worry about that for a long time.”

Marinette chuckles. “Mama Bear instincts may rise. About the side effects…I get why they appear, but not why after a while.”

“I have a theory.” Marinette looks at Tikki and nods her head for the kwami to continue. “These emotions are your instincts reacting with the magic while you body is getting stronger. An example of this is the rule for your special power. You detransform after five minutes when using the lucky charm, adults who wear a miraculous don’t. However users that get their miraculous as adults are weaker that the ones who get them as children. If you have a miraculous since you are a child the magic works better, because it adapted with you while you were growing up.”

Marinette nods. Her head is still spinning from the information dump she just received. If things went the way Tikki was saying it wouldn’t be too hard to get a grip on these…emotions. It would be disturbing to feel random spikes of emotions and have to stop herself from reacting to them. Then there was the physical part, which she hadn’t even noticed.

Tikki didn’t look to worry about any of it, but the kwami was ancient and often dealt with things in a unique sort of way. It was great when Marinette was looking for a second perspective on things, and a God was able to give her very helpful advices based on previous experiences. It sucked when the God had different visions from humans, time was one of those. Tikki’s perspective on time was a unique one, while she adjusted advices to a human timeline, it would sometimes be too general or too wide of a timeframe.

She was probably basing the difficult of these adjustments to how previous Ladybugs dealt with it. Still, every person was different and Marinette didn’t know just how much she would struggle with it…or Chat Noir would struggle. The side effects weren’t exclusive depending on the kwami…or at least Tikki didn’t mention it. Meaning Chat would go to the same thing, which was in a horrible way good. They could be there for each other, which brought Marinette a lot of comfort.

One of her biggest priorities would be to talk with Chat. Not even to figure out a plan just check in on him. It was illogical but a part of her felt guilty over not being the first one to get these side effects, and then taking weeks to get them leaving Chat alone to deal with it. That didn’t really matter in the end. What matter was dealing with this new curve ball thrown at them.

As the nurse reappears with food, Tikki goes back into her purse leaving Marinette alone with her thoughts. This was going to be a couple of long months she just knew it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and Welcome!  
> Poor Marinette just got some news. Tikki is a lot better at explaining things than Plagg. Marinette immediately looks for a plan on the emotional side, while Adrien looked for one on the physical side. There is a reason for that. Can you guess it?
> 
> Next chapter is where they talk things over it’s also the last one. I have a few shorts/Ficlets/drabbles of them dealing with the side effects that will be posted here. I had to separate them because the other part of the story is basically short episodic occurrences where they deal with the side effects. Most of them are really short - at least compare to my usual chapters.
> 
> Thank you for reading this. Beware the mistakes and be nice in the comments.  
> Blood Wolf


	3. Talking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug and Chat Noir lay down to watch a cloudy sky and face bizarre life changes.

Adrien's POV

It had been a month and half since he had first felt the “Miraculous side effects” or Animal Instincts has Plagg called them, and Adrien wish he could said it had been easy. In a way it wasn’t too hard, initially he was convinced things were going to be a lot harder. He feared developing an anger problem, snapping at random times or worse a sudden need to isolate himself from everything and everyone. That thankfully hadn’t happen, but things weren’t easy.

The Animal Instincts kept showing up at the most random times. Adrien had to stop from snapping at makeup artists for grabbing his face, having to control the occasional spikes of rage when dealing with mundane things, the need to scream at Lila when she started to lie about something, the need to stop from pushing her or Chloe away when they suddenly touch him. He was struggling less and less with each episode, but it didn’t mean he was currently comfortable where he was.

These feelings felt evasive and annoying. They frustrated him to no end, which in turn seem to occasionally aggravate them. Plagg had warned him it would take time, most likely a few weeks or months, but Adrien had thought by now he would have it under control. Yet, control came slowly and painfully, just because he didn’t snap at people didn’t mean people didn’t notice his odd reactions at times. Adrien had given some weird and embarrassing excuses when his friends asked him what was wrong.

After the first month he had once again sought out Plagg’s knowledge. This time he had asked more in depth about…well everything. Plagg was useful for the most part, an ungodly amount of cheese puns and random references had been used, but Adrien understood things a little bit better. Plagg had told him some of his users had it worse when it comes to the emotional side. That being said it wasn’t the norm, the other users from different miraculous also struggled. The adjustment period seem to depend more on the type of person they are.

Adrien was a calm person, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get angry or frustrated. Plagg had told him he had absolute faith that Adrien would eventually get control. An emotion appeared and he would instinctually know if it was him or a side effect, making its dismissal a lot easier, until he would no longer notice them. Adrien just wished his instincts would hurry up and get with the program.

Still it wasn’t all bad news. When the physical side of things appeared Adrien had quickly realize it was a lot easier to control than his normal emotions. It had been one of his biggest fears, with all the sports he did it would have been easy to slip up. Yet, since the changes came gradually he trains his body to adjust.

His room had a boxing bag, which he used to train his strength. He had bought a sensor device to install inside the bag and got the app installed into his personal phone. The sensor device inside would indicate how hard he hit and how much damage he could cause. Every day he would spend half an hour with it, making sure not to hit to hard.

When his speed started to cause problems, he had asked Nathalie if he could have a treadmill in his room. It was there the next day. He started to figure out a way to slow down his body while processing his environment at a higher speed.

He could don’t much for his endurance and stamina increasing into superhuman territories, but he could fake being tired. Since fencing requires him to use a full body suit it wasn’t very noticeable when he was tired. Every other sport he would dunk a water bottle over his head half way in to mimic sweat.

Plagg had warn him the physical changes took a lot more time to fully mature because they came gradually. Still, Adrien felt confident in his ability to keep up a good balance.

It had been a convoluted few weeks, with a lot of work, confusion and frustration. He also felt alone. The side effects had hit him first, meaning he had to wait for Ladybug to experience them before having someone to vent to. Plagg was great and a source of knowledge but Adrien needs to talk with someone who would get it on a personal level. He had to wait for his partner in crime fighting.

It didn’t help that Ladybug had taken more than a month to develop this new feelings. From the first conversation with Plagg Adrien had convinced himself that it would be a matter of days before Ladybug was also experiencing it. When that didn’t happen Adrien had started to feel alone. It wasn’t her fault, this happen to everybody at different times, but the longer he had to deal with this emotions alone the more frustrated he become.

He also felt guilty for keeping this from her. On an intellectual level he knew it was better to wait for the Animal Instincts to appear and then explain. Although Adrien was a little mystified by Plagg never saying a word, he also understood perfectly why the Kwami had done so.

He didn’t know if Ladybug would feel the same way. She usually preferred to have all the available knowledge in advance to make a more efficient battle plan, but she was also a reasonable person. The benefits of waiting out and explain instead of stressing out the users is a good idea. Since Ladybug does a have a tendency to try to carry the burden of…everything and stressing a lot, Adrien thinks it was the best decision.

It just didn’t make it any easier to keep seeing her and keep his mouth shut. Adrien guesses it was one of the reasons he got so devoted to manage the physical part. It was something he could control a lot better than the emotional side, and it was something he could give helpful advices when the time came.

When Plagg finally told him Ladybug had started to experience the same emotions he felt relieve and ashamed. Relieve he could finally vent about it, and ashamed he was glad his partner was finally experiencing something truly hard to handled.

He had wanted to meet up immediately, but things weren’t always that easy. Sadly, it took almost a full week before they had the time to talk this out. A bizarre amount of akumas, schoolwork, model work and Ladybug also being extremely busy in her personal life, left both of them with no time to meet up and discuss this new development.

Tonight was the first time in forever where they would be able to meet up and talk. Adrien was so relief by it he ended up arriving 20 minutes early. He had lay down on top of Eiffel tower just watching the night sky. It was a cloudy night, he couldn’t see the stars and without his suit he would have frozen up here, but he still felt an inner peace watching the sky. Having rain earlier, the floor was wet, but there was a smell coming from the gardens bellow of wet grass that left him content.

Ladybug arrives a ten minutes before they were supposed to meet. Adrien feels a soft smile appear on his face. He wasn’t the only one looking forward to this meeting.

“Good evening my Lady.”

“Hello Chat.” She gives him an amused smile and lays down next to him.

He turns his face to her, while Ladybug watches the cloudy sky with a peaceful expression. Adrien knows they don’t have a lot of time and they should start talking right away, but he can’t bring himself to say anything. The silence feels oddly right after this chaotic week.

Ladybug takes a deep breath and looks at him. “So…animal instincts.”

“Yup. When Plagg told me what was happening. I was like ‘Fur real’?”

She doesn’t react to the pun, instead she frowns. “Tikki told me they started earlier for you. How has it been?”

“It has been okay. The emotional stuff in harder than the physical…I don’t like snapping at people.” Ladybug squeezes his hand but remains silence. “Plagg keeps telling I’m doing great, that I already have great control, but I still want to snap at stupid things…I just feel so frustrated with myself…it’s just not me…” he trails of when he feels himself getting angry. It’s not the animal instincts acting up. Just his emotions and frustration at the situation appearing.

Ladybug breaths in. “I haven’t had enough of…emotional episodes to tell you what to do, but I have been meditating for prevention. I have a technique for when I get angry…I could show you. I can’t make any promises that would help…I…”

This time it’s Adrien who squeezes her hand. “I would love to know them, even if they don’t help with the…err situation, knowing calming techniques it’s always fur-midable.” Ladybug rolls her eyes, but a small smile comes back to her face. Adrien considers it a win. “Although the progress is slow I have notice improvements over my…outburst? I think it might be the best word…small things, like understanding what it is faster and dismissing it faster…things like that. It just frustrated how slow the process is.”

“We’ll get through this, especially when we have another person who can help.”

“Dealing with this owl (all) by myself hasn’t been a picnic in the park either.” He notices Ladybug opening her mouth and cuts her off. “Don’t apologize for something you can’t control.”

A voice in the back of his mind that sounds just like Plagg snorts and calls him and hypocrite.

Ladybug smiles at him. “Magic is freaky. The emotional stuff has been strange, but the physical part has been a nightmare.”

“Oh?” That’s unexpected. Adrien assumed she would deal with it better than the emotional stuff, just like he was.

She suddenly becomes suspiciously interested in the night sky. “I might have been having trouble with my own strength…” He gives her a look. “There might be a hole or two in my house caused by me tripping and falling…”

He burst out laughing. The mental image of Ladybug punching a hole into a wall because she tripped it’s hilarious. Adrien had a few issues with his physical strength, but there are no holes on walls. Also, the way Ladybug is saying this he had a sneaky suspicion it might be more than at her house. The thought of Ladybug civilian identity having to justify sudden feats of incredible strength is incredible.

She covers her face with her hands. “Don’t laugh. I was already a bit clumsy before this…now my strength and speed are going insane. It’s like I forgot how to walk, but instead of falling I cause disaster everywhere I go. Yesterday, I was running up a flight of stairs at my school and I jump a little bit too high, missed the next step and put a small dent on the step. Thankfully no one notice, but now there’s a small dent in the middle of the stairs and I can’t say anything because how can I explain it?”

He struggles to stop laughing - her story doesn’t help at all - but Adrien eventually catches his breath. “Y-y-you dropped a bowling ball on it?”

She stares at him with an are-you-serious-right-now expression. “Why would I bring a bowling ball to school?”

He shrugs. “Stranger things have happen.”

She sighs. “Well…how are you dealing with the physical part?”

“I do a lot of sports…I think that has been helping…The other day I got a sensor to put in a boxing bag that tells me how hard I’m hitting…I’ve been running in a treadmill and trying to run slower than I can…Just a lot of activities…”

“I don’t think I have time or money to join a gym.” Right most people don’t have those things inside their house, much less their rooms. “Still, I can improvise something…it would make sense to do physical activities where we could monitor our progress…”

“Plagg said I was doing really well with that part…I think it being a gradual process, instead of randomly showing up helps a lot. Did Tikki say how long it last…the physical improvements? Plagg wasn’t helpful…he just said it can take months or years …and it just stops one day.”

Ladybug looks at the sky. “Tikki says it can depend on a number of factors, how long we have the miraculous, how much magic we use, how old we were when we stared, if we were kids or adults…a lot of things. The best estimate she told me was a couple years due to our particular situation with Hawk Moth.”

“If we stop using the miraculous full time does this stop?

“No. She told me this was a permanent process…”Ladybug goes quiet, but unlike the early silence of the meeting, this one feels heavy.

Adrien can guess why. While he has always seen the miraculous as mostly a blessing, it doesn’t mean he isn’t aware of the responsibility he holds. Ladybug has always been more...burden by the responsibility than him. It isn’t because he’s irresponsible or anything like that. It’s just their personalities. She is a worrier, and he is more relaxed. It’s a good balance. She makes sure he doesn’t get lost in the sky and he makes sure she doesn’t drown in what-ifs.

This situation is different. They were both blindsided by this. He has been trying to stay positive about it, but it’s hard. For the first time in his entire superhero run he has been confronted by an outcome he wasn’t expecting and yet it was inevitable. In an odd way it felt disturbing similar to betrayal. Yet, he couldn’t say from whom.

Plagg? No the kwami was right if he had told Adrien about this he would have freaked out more than necessary. It would have made him paranoid and more stress. Master Fu? What could the man say? From what Plagg told him it also showed up as a surprise for him too. The man had to figure it out like he and Ladybug were currently doing. Telling them before it happen would have the same result as Plagg.

It didn’t make the feeling go away or any easier to deal. It was cruel. It wasn’t all bad. Adrien would have superhuman senses and reflexes after this was all done, but the dealing with the emotional cost seemed like an unfair trade off.

Ladybug squeezes his hand again and he looks back at her. A soft understanding expression on her beautiful face reminds him why he fell in love with her.

She clears her throat. “I always knew this…the miraculous would come with a cost. Free time, missed opportunities, having to lie to my friends and family…those things. It was a cost I was willing to pay…this was not something I planned or even saw coming…but I have to accept. Just like I accepted everything else but it doesn’t mean…”

“…we have to like it.” He finishes it for her. “It sucks. I wouldn’t pretend I’m happy this happen because I’m not. I also don’t believe I can’t get over this. It’s hard, but it’s not impossible. Being blindsided hurts more than the actual ‘animal instincts’ thing, but I can deal with it and with time accept it has a learning curve. Plus, having you by my side makes it easier.”

He wasn’t lying, the biggest reason he wanted her to get to this point was so they could go through this together. They have always been the best team, and they would triumph over this. Plagg had said some users lost themselves to this instincts, but Adrien was sure wouldn’t neither would Ladybug.

He could see in her eyes she felt the same thing. So, while smiling at each other they both turn to watch the night sky in a peaceful silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and Welcome!  
> We end has we begin with Adrien’s POV. I feel like I should tell you the reason I went with Adrien struggling more with the emotional side is because he doesn’t have an emotional foundation like Marinette has. The abuse he suffers makes it harder for him to deal with it, but it doesn’t mean he can’t overcome it. He can it just takes more time.
> 
> On the opposing side Marinette lack of physical activities outside of Ladybug plus her clumsiness leaves a lot more open to accidents.
> 
> It’s also a little nod on how they work better with each other than without each other.  
> I’ll post a few shorts in a few days in the follow up work that will detail some of the struggles they are having controlling this Animal Instincts. They are more comical in nature than angsty, but it doesn’t mean it’s the rule.
> 
> Thank you for reading this. Beware the mistakes and be nice in the comments.  
> Blood Wolf

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and Welcome!  
> Poor Adrien just got bamboozled. Poor Plagg trying to explain this when all he wants is some cheese.  
> I’ve seen a few promps and fics where the main idea was Chat Noir and Ladybug develop animal instincts. So I decide to try it out…and added the ‘they are enhanced due to miraculous outside of the suits’ thing. Then gave them some really odd consequences and voila a Fic. Hope you like it.  
> This Fic will have three chapters next one will be from Marinette POV. It’s set before the season 3 final episode.  
> Thank you for reading this. Beware the mistakes and be nice in the comments.  
> Blood Wolf


End file.
